| Judgments |
|---|
| 3 Nov | Bombay HC: UPSC must get a fresh functional finding before rejecting a disabled candidate Shows how the Supreme Court's 'reasonable accommodation' doctrine under Section 2(y) of the RPwD Act, 2016 is read into Article 41 (a Directive Principle) together with Articles 14 and 21 — a frequently tested disability-rights and constitutional-law principle in public employment. Source: Bombay High Court: judgment in Teklal Kumar Das v. Secretary, Union Public Service Commission and Others, Writ Petition 2665/2025 (3 November 2026) |
| 3 Nov | Bombay High Court: unregistered ethanol supplier cannot claim a right to bid in BPCL's tender Illustrates the limited scope of judicial review under Article 226 over the terms of a government tender, and how the equal-treatment guarantee of Article 14 can itself bar relief to a non-compliant bidder at the expense of others who met the published conditions. Source: Bombay High Court: judgment in Alpine Ethanol Private Limited v. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and others, Writ Petition (L) No.37019 of 2026 (3 November 2026) |
| 3 Nov | Delhi High Court reaffirms narrow scope of Section 34 challenges to arbitral awards Sets out the 'patent illegality' standard that limits judicial interference with arbitral awards under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and ties the requirement of contemporaneous notice of a claim for delay-compensation to Section 55 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Source: Delhi High Court: judgment in M/s Winner Construction Pvt. Ltd. v. Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee, O.M.P. (COMM) 13/2015 (3 November 2026) |
| 3 Nov | Karnataka HC registers suo motu PIL after advocate murders, questions police acting as 'parallel courts' Sets out the constitutional characterisation of advocates as officers of the court integral to the administration of justice, and the limit that police authorities may act only within their statutory jurisdiction and cannot adjudicate civil disputes — recurring themes in questions on the legal profession and administrative law. Source: Karnataka High Court: Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation on the murder of two Advocates and attempted murder of a Senior Advocate, oral order dated 3 November 2026 |
| 3 Nov | Madras High Court lifts stay on Tamil Nadu's new municipal solid-waste management model Illustrates when an interlocutory order qualifies as a 'judgment' appealable under the Letters Patent, and the limited scope of judicial review over executive policy on municipal functions assigned to Urban Local Bodies under Article 243W and the Twelfth Schedule. Source: Madras High Court: judgment in The Secretary to Government v. Waste Management Operators Association of South India, W.A.No.3362 of 2026 (3 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | Bombay HC: admission in reply to a chargesheet is enough to prove misconduct Settles two linked service-law points: an employee's admission in reply to a chargesheet can itself prove a disciplinary charge, and retirement during the pendency of proceedings does not extinguish liability for proved misconduct. Source: Bombay High Court: judgment in Thane Municipal Corporation v. Prabhakar Chango Shinde, WP 5672/2011 with IA 9837/2022 (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | Bombay HC: contract staff need 10 years' service for permanency, not just 240 days Illustrates the Supreme Court's constitution-bench rule in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (3) that only irregularly (not illegally) appointed employees on sanctioned posts, with ten or more years of service, may be considered for one-time regularisation — a staple public-employment-law principle. Source: Bombay High Court: judgment in Sanjay Shamrao Bhor and Ors. v. Pune Municipal Corporation, WP 9668/2016 (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | Delhi HC cuts POCSO sentence from 30 to 15 years: enhanced minimum can't apply retrospectively A direct application of Article 20(1)'s bar on retrospective criminal punishment to the 2019 POCSO amendment, alongside the statutory distinction between simple and rigorous imprisonment under Section 53 IPC. Source: Delhi High Court: judgment in Mohd Anzar Ahmad v. State NCT of Delhi, CRL.A. 276/2025 (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | Delhi HC: child's testimony on sexual assault can sustain conviction without independent corroboration Anchors the POCSO-specific reverse burden under Section 29 and the settled rule that a child victim's reliable, consistent testimony alone can found a conviction for a sexual offence, without insisting on independent corroboration. Source: Delhi High Court: judgment in J.P. v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) & Anr., CRL.A. 502/2025 (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | Delhi HC: Zee Group loan agreements stamped under Indian, not Maharashtra, Stamp Act Applies the territorial-nexus doctrine — rooted in the constitutional division of legislative competence between Parliament's Entry 91 of List I and the States' Entry 63 of List II of the Seventh Schedule — to decide where a contract is 'executed' for stamp-duty purposes, within one of the narrow grounds on which a court may still intervene under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act. Source: Delhi High Court: judgment in Asian Satellite Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. v. Religare Finvest Limited & Anr., O.M.P.(COMM) 253/2026 & connected matters (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | MP High Court: no cognizance under BNS s.223 without a written complaint under BNSS s.215 A clean illustration of the mandatory procedural bar on taking cognizance of offences against public authority without a written complaint by the public servant concerned (BNSS s.215, carrying forward CrPC s.195), and of the 'same transaction' test against splitting connected offences to evade that bar. Source: Madhya Pradesh High Court (Indore Bench): judgment in Rajesh Achaliya v. State of Madhya Pradesh, MCRC 18484/2026 (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | P&H HC: NDPS search memo in English valid; no independent witness needed absent enmity Clarifies the practical scope of the mandatory search safeguard in Section 50 of the NDPS Act, and reaffirms that courts do not presume police witnesses unreliable merely because no independent witness joined the search. Source: Punjab and Haryana High Court: judgment in George N Boley v. State of Punjab, CRA-S-1194-2021 (2 November 2026) |
| Notifications |
|---|
| 4 Nov | Cabinet extends Fast Track Special Courts scheme for rape and POCSO cases to 2031 Tests knowledge of the POCSO Act, 2012's push for speedy, victim-centric trials, the Nirbhaya Fund as a funding mechanism for women's and children's safety schemes, and how a Supreme Court suo motu direction can originate a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. Source: Ministry of Law and Justice (PIB): Cabinet approves continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts for a further period of five years (4 November 2026) |
| 4 Nov | Environment Ministry releases 2026 guidelines for recognising India's OECM conservation sites Illustrates how a non-binding international biodiversity target (the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework) is translated into a domestic administrative framework for recognising conservation areas without altering land ownership or existing law. Source: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (PIB): Union Environment Minister releases Guidelines for Designation of India's Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (I-OECMs), 2026 (4 November 2026) |
| 4 Nov | SEBI relaxes digital KYC on-boarding for NRI and OCI individual investors Shows a regulator (SEBI, exercising its Section 11(1) rule-making power under the SEBI Act, 1992) tailoring KYC and anti-money-laundering safeguards to the FATF's country-risk classification, and distinguishing categories of overseas investors — NRI, OCI and foreign national — defined across the FEMA, Income Tax Act and Citizenship Act. Source: SEBI: Circular on Review of Know Your Client process for individual Person Resident Outside India clients, HO/38/30/12(3)2026-MIRSD-POD2/I/25175/2026 (4 November 2026) |
| 3 Nov | NHRC takes suo motu note of alleged trafficking of girl children to Maharashtra cities Illustrates the National Human Rights Commission's power under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 to take suo motu cognizance of rights violations from a media report and call for a time-bound report from state authorities, without a formal complaint — a recurring human-rights-law and current-affairs theme. Source: National Human Rights Commission: press release on suo motu cognizance of the reported sale and trafficking of girl children from border districts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to cities in Maharashtra (3 November 2026) |
| 3 Nov | TRAI shifts telecom interconnection to state-level, mandates transition to IP-based networks Shows a sectoral regulator exercising its statutory rule-making power under Section 11(1)(b) of the TRAI Act, 1997 after a public consultation process — a recurring theme in questions on delegated legislation and administrative law. Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India: Press Release No. 148/2026 on the Telecommunication Interconnection (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (3 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | RBI lets resident individuals skip the export declaration form for service exports Illustrates RBI's delegated power under Sections 7, 8 and 47(2) of FEMA, 1999 to amend subordinate regulations governing cross-border trade in services — a recurring theme in questions on exchange-control law and delegated legislation. Source: Reserve Bank of India: Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026, Notification No. FEMA 23(R)/(2)/2026-RB (2 November 2026) |
| 2 Nov | TRAI widens telecom complaint channels, cuts consumer appeal deadline to 15 days Shows how a sectoral regulator amends subordinate legislation (a TRAI regulation under the TRAI Act, 1997) after public consultation — a recurring theme in questions on delegated legislation and consumer-protection current affairs. Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India: Press Release No. 146/2026 on the Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (2 November 2026) |
